Gabriel and the Wacky Pack
Gabriel and the Wacky Pack is a 2011 American 3D computer-animated comedy film produced by Geo LTD. Animation and distributed by Universal Pictures, and loosely based on The Wacky Pack comic book series created by Geo G. The 38th Geo LTD. feature film, it was directed by Jeff Fowler, co-directed by Geo, and written by Erica Rivinoja, Kevin and Dan Hageman. It stars the voices of Zachary Gordon, Geo G., E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones, Jake T. Austin, Jenny Slate, Sarah Jessica Parker, Nick Offerman, Amanda Bynes, and Alan Tudyk. The film held its world premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre on October 21, 2011, and was released in the United States on November 27, 2011. It received generally positive reviews from fans and critics, who praised its humor and character development. It was also a box office success, grossing over $439 million in the United States and $538 million worldwide. As with most Geo LTD. films, it launched a franchise with a series of films, including the sequel Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2 in 2014, and another sequel, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 3, is scheduled for release in 2017. A television series is planned for 2018. Plot On an ordinary day, Roge, Leno, Cole, and three Lars (Ted, John and Cody) are off at the top of a cell tower in Sinking Spring, Pennsylvania, to take a "cell tower surfing" photo. Suddenly, the surfboard that Roge, Leno, Cole, John and Cody are on starts to move slowly to the edge, and begins to surf in the air. Their brother and scientist Loy helps them jump ship. After the Wacky Pack interrupts a meeting with his wild antics, Loy has a talk with his brother Roge and his partner Gabriel, and tells thenmif Gabriel and the Wacky Pack just goof off. Gabriel and Roge ignore their advises and have fun with Leno and Cole. That same day, Roge meets a new yet imaginary girl named Blues. That night, Gabriel and his gang throw a massive party in his room; all the imaginary friends including the lars are there except Loy, who is making a invention in his lab. Roge is assigned his shift along with him, but he talks himself out of it, saying that he is needed for a certain role in the midnight party room. Loy talks with Roge and says that he was called by people the "coolest scientist in the world". Roge is given the privilege to party out, and the thankful brother runs to Gabriel's room. Gabriel and the trio become "drunk" from partying around, and they fall asleep in Gabriel's room, experiencing hangover-like symptoms the morning afterwards. The next morning, Gabriel wakes up and his mother Christine tells him that he should have slept a little earlier. At school, Gabriel tries to stay focused, but initially to no avail. More coming soon! Cast :Further information: List of The Wacky Pack characters *Zachary Gordon as Gabriel Garza, a kind, curious, intelligent 10-year-old boy *Geo G. as Roge, the leader of The Wacky Pack and one of Loy's brothers *E.G. Daily as Leno, the second and the middle of The Wacky Pack *Nicky Jones as Cole, the third and the youngest member of The Wacky Pack *Jake T. Austin as Loy, Roge, Leno and Cole's 21-year-old brother and a scientist and inventor *Jenny Slate as Blues, Roge's best-friend-turned-arch-nemesis and the boss and leader of her four henchmen *Sarah Jessica Parker as Christine Garza, Gabriel's mother *Nick Offerman as Marvin Garza, Gabriel's father and Christine's divorced husband *Amanda Bynes as Desiree Garza, Gabriel's 17-year-old sister *Alan Tudyk as Nicholas Garza, Gabriel's 20-year-old brother *Frank Welker as Roxy, Gabriel's pet dog, and Kratos, Nicholas' pet dog and Gabriel's former pet dog *Alex Borstein as Pat, Gabriel's neighbor *Ariel Winter as Gaby, Gabriel's cousin *Ava Acres as Bella, Gaby's younger sister *Hynden Walch as Nancy, an irritating student whom Gabriel trying to avoid *Jeff Fowler as lars Jim, Tom, Dan, Jerry, Jack, Sam, Jeff and Max *David Stinnett as lars Gary, Ben, Peter and Ted *Michael Wildshill as lars John and Cody *Fred Tatasciore as a middle-aged father *Kath Soucie as a son *Phil LaMarr and Jason Marsden as the two bike kids who make fun of Gabriel *John DiMaggio as a TV announcer *Dee Bradley Baker, Michael Gough, Corey Burton and Wally Wingert as Blues' all four minions Clef, Nob, Mikey and Joe Additional voices *Jack Angel *Lisa Bradley *Susanne Blakeslee *Greg Berg *Bill Farmer *Charlie Bright *Kari Wahlgren *Debi Derryberry *Jeff Bennett *Anndi McAfee *Melissa Disney *André Sogliuzzo Production Geo G. first pitched an idea for a Wacky Pack film in 2002. On May 7, 2008, it was announced that a 3D computer-animated feature film based on the comic book series is being developed by Geo LTD. Animation, with Jeff Fowler directing from the screenplay by Erica Rivinoja, Kevin and Dan Hageman. Ben Waisbren, Teresa Cheng, and Michael Wildshill produced the film while Geo G. would co-direct with Fowler. Originally titled The Wacky Pack Movie, it was scheduled for a 2010 release. In February 2010, Geo LTD. confirmed that the film, retitled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack, was currently in production. It was also announced that Zachary Gordon would star as Gabriel Garza in the film. J. David Stem and David N. Weiss did an uncredited rewrite of the script. Glass Ball Productions was initially involved in the film but was not listed as an involved division when billing was released by Universal. Glass Ball was uncredited, though. Release Gabriel and the Wacky Pack was originally slated for a release on May 6, 2011, while BJ and Wally Go Around the World was scheduled for release on November 23, 2011. However, in September 2009, Geo LTD. Animation announced that Gabriel and the Wacky Pack would be released in fall 2011, while BJ and Wally Go Around the World was pushed back for a spring 2011 release. Contrary to speculation, co-director Geo G. reasoned that the film, animated at Blur Animation Workshop in Culver City, would have an easier task to stand out around the holiday season, while BJ and Wally Go Around the World, animated in-house at the main GLA headquarters in Los Angeles, was to try to take advantage of a less competitive spring release window and repeat successful spring launches of some of GLA's films animated at the main Los Angeles studio including Dot Box and Woo La La. On April 12, 2011, Universal Pictures announced that the release date would be moved up to Sunday, November 27, 2011 from its previously scheduled slot of November 23, 2011, in order to avoid competition with The Muppets and Arthur Christmas. The world premiere of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack took place on October 21, 2011, at TCL Chinese Theatre. The theatrical release was accompanied by Blur Studio's 2004 Academy Award-nominated short film Gopher Broke. Marketing Several merchandise were made for Gabriel and the Wacky Pack, such as toys and figurines. Universal teamed up with several major companies to promote the film, including McDonald's, who included 8 toys in their Happy Meals featuring the main characters, and Airheads, who made limited-edition flavors "Lar Flavor" and "The Wacky Pack's Strawberry Taste". Home media Gabriel and the Wacky Pack was released in the United States and Canada on DVD and Blu-ray on March 12, 2012, with a standalone single-disc DVD release being released on that same day. The United Kingdom release date was April 19, 2012, and the Australian release date was May 23, 2012. In addition to Gopher Broke, the release includes a new short film, titled How Gabriel Met Gabriela. Gabriel and the Wacky Pack is available in 4 different packages: a 4-disc "Wacky Edition" combination package (3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy), a 3-disc "Wacky Edition" combination package (Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital Copy), a 2-disc "Wacky Edition" combination package (DVD and Digital Copy), and a single disc DVD. The "Digital Copy" included with the 3-disc combination package is a separate disc that allows users to download a copy of the film to a computer through iTunes or Windows Media Player software. The 3-disc combination package also comes with an hour of bonus features. The film was re-issued on Blu-ray and DVD on October 5, 2014. It includes a movie ticket to its sequel Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2. Video game A video game based on the film was published by Activision and released on November 22, 2011, for the Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation 3, and the Xbox 360. Soundtrack On June 16, 2010, it was announced that composer Heitor Pereira would compose the film's music. Geo LTD. Records released the soundtrack album on November 15, 2011. Reception Critical reception Gabriel and the Wacky Pack has received positive reviews from critics. Based on 87 reviews, the film holds a 94% "Fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with the consensus stating "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack is an fun masterpiece for the whole family". On Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film has an average score of 62 out of 100, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Box office The film grossed $68,368,836 on it's opening weekend, being released in 4,200 theaters, leaving it #2 during the weekend behind The Muppets. The film grossed $445,627,853 in North America and $84,942,573 in other countries, with a total gross of $389,300,952 worldwide, making the film a box office success. Accolades Sequels Because of its critical and commercial success, Gabriel and the Wacky Pack had launched a franchise. The first sequel, titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, was released on November 21, 2014. It was directed again by Jeff Fowler with co-direction by Geo G., written by Geo, Erica Rivinoja, J. David Stem and David N. Weiss, and produced by Teresa Cheng, Michael Wildshill, and John Cohen. Zachary Gordon, Geo G., E.G. Daily, Nicky Jones, and Jake T. Austin reprised their roles as Gabriel, Roge, Leno, Cole and Loy, respectively. New cast members include Isla Fisher as Lily Stampla, Zac Efron as Lester Stampla, Rob Corddry as Mr. Leek and Jonathan Morgan Heit as Jan Soto. On July 15, 2014, Geo LTD. announced a planned third film, titled Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 3, to follow Gabriel and the Wacky Pack 2, with a release date set for November 26, 2017. Television series Other media Media In August 2012, a manga version of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack was made by Hiromi Yamafuji and distributed in Kodansha's Monthly Shōnen Rival magazine in Japan; the manga was published in English by Tokyopop. Television shorts In 2012, Geo LTD. created a series of shorts known as "Gabriel and the Wacky Pack Shorts" which were used as interstitials on NBC and Cartoon Network. They did not necessarily follow the continuity from Gabriel and the Wacky Pack, taking place before, during and after the events of the first film. They were aired roughly around the time of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack's release to DVD and Blu-ray. Television specials ''Main article: List of Gabriel and the Wacky Pack Television Specials '' Category:2010s Category:2011 Category:Films Category:Animated films Category:Computer animated films Category:Gabriel and the Wacky Pack Category:The Wacky Pack Category:Films directed by Jeff Fowler Category:Films directed by Geo G. Category:Geo LTD. films Category:Universal Pictures films